Lee
Any trouble today?
Silver
Don’t make me come down there.
How could I suspect him of something as horrible as locking up his own wife in a rotting cabin? He worries about me more than I worry about myself. I look over at him with my eyebrows raised. “Wow, you were really hungry. And for a long time. Your first text was hours ago.”
The look he gives me makes me want to kick everyone out and lock the doors. “Keep teasing me and see what happens.”
“If I leave now, can I see it happen when we get home?” Maybe Celia’s news about his wife should make me hesitant, but it doesn’t.
Lee also doesn’t hesitate, getting to his feet with a deep chuckle. “Let’s go.”
Any thoughts of the Matheson’s, the cabin, or the fate of Lee’s wife are shoved away from the moment we get home. He yanks me out of my truck before I can get out, carries me inside, and bends me over his couch.
By the time I climb into my bed hours later, I’m a worn out, satisfied heap without a thought in my head.
CHAPTER 13
LEE
“Don’t pout.”
Silver looks over at me from my passenger seat. “I’m not pouting. I’m planning your violent demise. I turned down Calli’s invitation for Thanksgiving.”
“Well, I accepted for both of us.”
“When are you going to learn that you can’t tell me what to do?”
Not today, considering she’s here. My lips twitch up and she narrows her eyes at me as if she can read my thoughts. “Calli really wanted you there.”
“You got bullied into it,” she laughs. “By a woman half your size. Were you afraid to say no? Maybe she’d hide you in their graveyard?” She continues when my only response is an exasperated look. “No, I understand. She’s terrifying. The way she spends most of her time watching birds and gardening. It was a close call.”
Calli is her best friend but there are things she doesn’t know about her. The remark about burying someone in their graveyard hits closer to home than she’ll ever know.
“She was worried about you and guilted me into it.” It was hard to argue when she stood in front of me and asked if I was going to let Silver be alone on the first holiday after her mother’s death. She said she needed to be surrounded by people who care about her.
Silver shifts the two pies on her lap and sighs. “My brothers are trying to get me to come to their house for Christmas. I thought it’d be better to skip the holidays this year, but maybe they’re right. It won’t be any easier next year. Is Lacey coming?”
“No, she went to her boyfriend’s brother’s place.”
The driveway’s crowded when we pull in and park. Arlow’s sister and parents have been staying with them, but the sister’s husband is supposed to be joining them tonight as well. It’s going to be a full house. Silver carries the pies while I grab two bottles of wine. She’s dressed soft today, in a sweater and jeans with her hair down.
I can’t seem to take my eyes off of her anymore. Even with everything going on, my thoughts keep going back to her. We haven’t seen a lot of each other in the past week since the diner reopened. After her opening day, I bent her over my couch like she asked, and a few days later, she caught me first thing in the morning with a blowjob that made me forget my name. I haven’t had another nightmare, but it felt like a warning from my subconscious not to let things get too serious, a reminder that I’ll only hurt us both if she falls for me.
The way we find ourselves on the couch together in the evenings, my arm around her, our pets sprawled over us while we watch TV should be concerning but it’s too comforting to give up. She seems to need it as much as I do. Besides, she still sleeps in her own bed and hasn’t acted like she wants anything more from me. She understands.
The moment we hit the porch, the door swings open, and Calli beams at us. “There you are! Get in here, it’s freezing.”
“We brought booze and pie,” Silver announces.
“Perfect,” Arlow replies, taking the bottles from me while Silver follows Calli into the kitchen.
A man walks in holding a toddler upside down like a sack of potatoes while the kid shrieks with laughter. “Hi.” He offers his free hand. “You must be Lee. I’m Gregory, Alicia’s husband.”
“Good to meet you.” I shake his hand and he’s pulled away by a second kid who’s whining about something.
